Tempest Under Fire For Bartender Allegedly Creeping In Ladies Room

Image: Andrew D via Yelp

South of Market dive bar Tempest, like many SF dive bars, boasts relatively disgusting bathrooms. But a staff member’s behavior in those bathrooms is that establishment’s biggest problem right now, as SFGate reports two women say they were stalked into the ladies room by a male Tempest staffer. 

This is the placehttps://t.co/UQR1cpbqy9

— Riana T (@riribangaz) June 28, 2021

The accuser has posted her account publicly in the above Twitter thread, saying that she and a friend “got harassed at a bar/restaurant called Tempest in San Francisco. One of the workers came inside and tried locking the door while we were in the bathroom… The manager said he would ‘take care of it’ while the worker that harassed us was laughing as if it was a joke. It seemed like an inside job. He proceeded to let that worker stay, and not give him any consequences for inappropriate actions. I just want to give a warning to anyone in San Francisco (Bay Area) to be aware of this place. It’s fucked up, and [the] worker tried to apologize, but it is still unacceptable.”

Per SFGate’s account, the alleged victims “did not recognize the man was a Tempest employee, said that once inside the bathroom, the man fidgeted with the door handle, which made her believe he was trying to lock the door. The encounter was brief, however, and he quickly reopened the door and exited.”

One the two tells SFGate that another staff member “was like, ‘He was joking.’ He just kept proceeding to defend him.”

SFGate spoke to Tempest’s co-owners, who said that security video corroborated the story and the staffer has since been suspended. “I don’t know what he was thinking,” co-owner Tony Cooney told the site. “I don’t think [he] had malicious intent, he just made a very stupid decision that I don’t know why he thought was funny. But it doesn’t excuse anything.”

Not surprisingly, Tempest’s Yelp page now has the Unusual Activity Alert and the flood of one-star reviews. (Many of which do name the accused bartender by name.) Hey, I’ve been in service jobs where I had to clean a woman’s washroom, and I’ve accidentally walked in on patrons before. It’s mortifying, and no one ever responds “I was joking.” And now that word is getting out, this ‘joke’ is turning into more than a tempest in a teapot.